Julie Dash

Born in New York City, Julie Dash is a filmmaker, music video and commercial director, author and website creator. Her film studies began in Harlem in 1969, but eventually led her to the American Film Institute and UCLA, where she made The Diary of an African Nun (1977), based on a short story by Alice Walker, which won a student award from the Directors Guild of America. Dash’s critically acclaimed short film Illusions (1982) later won the Jury Prize for Best Film of the Decade awarded by the Black Filmmakers Foundation.

Dash’s first feature — Daughters of the Dust (1991) — was the first film by an African American woman to receive a general theatrical release in the United States; the Library of Congress named it to the National Film Registry in 2004. Dash returned to the film’s characters and their Gullah milieu in her novel of the same title, published in 1999.

Julie Dash’s masterpiece, the first American feature by an African American woman to receive a general theatrical release, announced a formidable talent with its story of an island family, descendants of escaped slaves, living off the Southern coast of the US in 1902 and contemplating a move to the U.S. mainland. Superb performances, cinematography, music and touches of magical realism, grace this unforgettable film.

Based on the true events of the “first lady of the civil rights movement,” Julie Dash’s "The Rosa Parks Story" chronicles the history of Parks’ famous act of civil disobedience. Focusing on both the moment that sparked the Montgomery bus boycott and Parks’ personal life, the film is an uplifting tale of courageousness and humanity in the face of bigotry and injustice.